Help

No account yet?
Registering is free, easy, and private.
Discuss in the forum, contribute to the Encyclopedia, build your own MyAnime lists, and more.

Review

by Rebecca Silverman, Dec 20th 2014

Yukarism

GN 1

Synopsis:

Yukari Kobayakawa is an accomplished, best-selling author of historical fiction set in the Edo period, despite the fact that he's only seventeen. In part he is able to be so prolific because he never has to do any research – he just knows things. As it turns out, that's because he was born with memories of his past life as a courtesan in Edo (Tokyo)'s Yoshiwara District, and when he meets classmate Mahoro, he begins to relive that former life through dreams. Why is he meeting other reincarnated souls from that life now? Does it have anything to do with finding the man who killed them all – and are they at risk of history repeating itself?

Review:

Synopsis:

Yukari Kobayakawa is an accomplished, best-selling author of historical fiction set in the Edo period, despite the fact that he's only seventeen. In part he is able to be so prolific because he never has to do any research – he just knows things. As it turns out, that's because he was born with memories of his past life as a courtesan in Edo (Tokyo)'s Yoshiwara District, and when he meets classmate Mahoro, he begins to relive that former life through dreams. Why is he meeting other reincarnated souls from that life now? Does it have anything to do with finding the man who killed them all – and are they at risk of history repeating itself?

Review:

When Yukari Kobayakawa was born, his parents were told that he still had memories of his past life. This, the attending priest told them, was indicated by the huge scar that crossed his torso, like a cut from a sword. The scar eventually faded, but the priest's words proved their truth through another strange manifestation: Yukari has encyclopedic knowledge of the Edo period. As far as we can tell, he's never questioned it (possibly because of the priest's words), and he's done very well for himself, becoming a best-selling historical fiction author by age seventeen. Since he doesn't have to do any research and just writes down the words that want out of his head, it's not a bad deal, and it has certainly allowed him to support himself after the deaths of his parents. He might have kept on this way indefinitely had he not been put in the same class as Mahoro Tachibana. One of his legion of fans, she's also developed a crush on him and manages to get close to him. When they meet, Yukari is struck by the sense that he knows her even though they've never spoken, and shortly thereafter begins to dream about his past life. Actually, “dream” isn't quite the right word – it's more like his soul travels back in time to inhabit his former body, that of Yumurasaki, an oiran (courtesan) in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district. Almost immediately after he goes to the past he meets a young man named Kazuma...who has the same burn scar on his wrist that Mahoro does.

Yukarism's first volume marks Chika Shiomi's fifth English-language release (Viz previously brought us Yurara and Rasetsu, CMX released Canon, and Go! Comi gave us Night of the Beasts), and it feels a little fresher than those previous titles, which, while entertaining, followed fairly basic supernatural storylines. Although there is not a lot of action in this first volume, Yukarism sets up a more innovative story, one which relies heavily on its hero's personality. Yukari comes off as a little emotionally cold and somewhat unfriendly, but beneath the surface he has a quick mind and strong sense of curiosity. He writes not because he enjoys it, but rather because he has to – his memories of the past (although he doesn't know that's what they are) keep bubbling to the surface, and the only way for him to deal with them is to write them down. This has made him a compulsive writer, and he often skips school in order to get the words out of his head. He's so absorbed in his writing that he barely notices how the people around him feel...until he meets Mahoro face-to-face. This is almost like a wake up call to him, and he starts coming to school and interacting with people. In part that's because of his journeys to the past, which tell him that he and Mahoro did know each other. Suddenly he starts to wonder if there are other people from his past life in his present one – and because this is fiction, the answer is a resounding yes.

One of the more interesting aspects of this volume is the way Yukari acts when he is in the body of Yumurasaki. He's very clearly his present self in the body of an Edo-era courtesan, not piggy-backing on his past life. As such his body language and speech patterns carry over, totally confounding Yumurasaki's acquaintances. He's clearly most comfortable with Kazuma because of the matching scar he and Mahoro have, but Kazuma is obviously himself rather than his future incarnation and isn't sure what to make of the oiran's new self. Most of the time he's in the past, Yukari makes on a cursory effort at behaving like Yumurasaki, which while it is funny also makes us worry a little about how it will effect the future. Or is it because of Yukari that she will eventually be killed? Shiomi doesn't address any of the typical time travel issues in this volume, which is a bit frustrating, but things are obviously just getting started as far as plot goes, so this may be a moot point in later volumes.

Shiomi's art has become much more fluid and clean than it was in her earlier series, with clearer page layouts and more detailed artwork in general. People are stiff and a bit static, something we see best in the scene where Yukari is attempting to perform a specific style of walking in the Edo period – there just isn't really much sense of movement, which detracts from the scene. Necks also occasionally look too thin to support heads; this is mostly seen in short-haired characters. The translation reads well with my only nit-pick being that there is not quite enough difference between Yukari's modern language and that used by the Edo-era characters. Since this is a plot point, it becomes a bit of a problem.

Yukarism's first volume isn't groundbreaking or fabulous, but it is an interesting story about how the past could bleed into the present. As of the end of the book, the whole main cast of both time periods has been assembled, so it is entirely possible that this is more of a prologue to the main story. It will be worth giving it another volume to see how it progresses, but as it stands, this is good without quite being good enough.

Grade:

Production Info:

Overall : B-

Story : C+

Art : B

+ Interesting conceit, Shiomi's freak-outs in the sidebars are pretty funny. Yukari himself clearly evolves over the course of the book.− Not enough language difference between past and present, pacing is a little uneven. At this point Mahoro feels like a bit of a wasted character.

They're still showing 35mm prints of Ghibli classics like Princess Mononoke in some revival theaters - but what's so special about 35mm? Justin has some thoughts.― David asked: Hi! I've noticed that several art house theaters in the NY metro area have started showing 35mm version of Ghibli classics like Mononoke and Nausicaa. is there any real benefit to seeing these over the "regular versions" mor...

From She and Her Cat to Your Name., Anne Lauenroth ranks all of Makoto Shinkai's projects from top to bottom. What are your favorite creations by this distinctive director?― Why do we wake up crying from a dream we've already begun to forget? Why does the feeling of loss linger after the memory of that dream has faded to a vague feeling of something that should be there but isn't? How can we long f...

Corpse Party's conclusion diverges more from the game than ever before, but disappoints as a horror story. Rebecca Silverman explains what went wrong.― These volumes, according to creators Toshimi Shinomiya and Makoto Kedouin, are where the manga adaptation of Corpse Party: Blood Covered really diverges from its game original. By this point the cast is most cut back down to its first game characters...

Recovery of an MMO Junkie has been a wild ride, but it's finally time for Moriko and Sakurai to start a new chapter together. We speculate on the next horizon for this nerdy couple.― Recovery of an MMO Junkie has been a wild ride, but it's finally time for Moriko and Sakurai to start a new chapter together. This week in anime, Michelle and Steve speculate what lies on the horizon for this nerdy coup...

Magical girls get a military makeover in this dark take on the genre. Rebecca Silverman has the details.― What do you think has been lacking from dark magical girl reboots? If you said “big ass guns and crippling PTSD,” then Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka might be the series for you! While the concept of the dark magical girl story is hardly new – those who remember the final moments of the last Nur...

The C3 Anime Festival Asia Singapore holds the crown as the biggest anime festival in Asia outside of Japan. The con celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and was attended by over 96,000 people. This year's events featured no major changes from the previous ones, but why fix what isn't broken? Notably, 2017's guest lineup included the main staff of Violet Evergarden, which was part of the con...

We frequently hear about how in Western animation, performances are often taped before animation really starts - but the opposite is apparently true in Japan. Justin gets into it.― James asked: Some time ago, you stated that one of the major differences between western animation and Japanese animation is that, in western animation, all dialogue is recorded first, and then the animation is done to m...

Paul gets into the recent film remake of this gearhead classic, along with all this week's new anime releases!― I really liked the ending of Recovery of an MMO Junkie this week, but now I'm starting to realize that the early finale means I'll have to get through the rest of the season without it. You know a series is good when the thought of not having new episodes to watch makes you feel a little ...

One of the most beloved shojo anime of all time comes to Blu-ray in this "sweet sixteen" special edition set! Rebecca Silverman looks back on how this heartwarming classic has held up sixteen years later.― Back when it was first released, Fruits Basket, based on the manga of the same name by Natsuki Takaya, was a sensation. Combining elements of fantasy, slice-of-life, and reverse harem romance come...

Mike devours a few episodes of the genre-smashing French action cartoon Lastman and wonders - is this anime?― Earlier this year I was at the Crunchyroll Expo, where I hosted a bunch of discussion panels and presented a couple of my own. The homogenous look and omnipresent Crunchyroll branding took some getting used to, but it was ultimately an energetic and well-run show, a deft mix of the stuff I l...

My Monster Secret’s sixth volume maintains its madcap romcom appeal in spite of some predictably glacial pacing. Nick Creamer has the details.― At last, it's time for action. As My Monster Secret's sixth volume opens, our hero Asahi reiterates his determination to actually confess to his vampiric classmate Shiragami. Having been spurred into action by the courage of his childhood friend Mikan, he's ...